Welcoming this first-of-its-kind collaboration, Deborah Kelleher, Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, said:
“Until recently, music ensembles such as the orchestra were the preserve of the musical elite – but our work with our shared ensemble for the ‘Sounding the Hidden at the NLI’ project challenged how we approach what we do across institutions and disciplines when it comes to making music together. The Royal Irish Academy of Music was proud to lead this work. At its heart, this project was about co-creation, deep listening, and the unfailing creativity of the human – the musicians themselves were the composers and collaborators, and they worked on every aspect of the piece together.
“We understood that this composed piece, co-created by a diverse group of talented musicians, was the first of its kind to be added to a National Library Collection possibly anywhere in the world.
“One of the most exciting parts of this initiative was our new collaboration with the National Library of Ireland – and the NLI itself provided the sounds and inspiration for the musical work. We were thrilled that the finished piece was included in Ireland’s National Collections.”
Dr Audrey Whitty, Director of the National Library of Ireland, said:
“People think of a library as a silent place, and yet this group of composers wove together a soundscape from the hum of constant activity inside and outside our historic walls. The fabric of the music was built on the echoes of books being shelved, pages rustling, trolleys on the move, vigorous typing and note-taking – all very real sounds of learning and discovery.
“There was something very meaningful and beautiful about the work produced by this group of musicians, and we could not have been prouder to accept it as part of our National Collections so it can be accessed for years to come.
“The National Library of Ireland, working with the Royal Irish Academy of Music, celebrated practical initiatives to make music accessible to everyone, and the showcasing of the indelible talent of Irish musicians from a broad spectrum of experiences.
“Projects of this kind were an example of proactive collecting by the National Library of the works of under-represented voices in our communities.”
Karen Power, Composer, said:
“I was thrilled to lead this co-creative process with RIAM, which both established a working framework for inclusive and co-creative music-making activities and produced our first composition.
“The composition was based on the audible and inaudible sounds of the magnificent NLI space.
“Our aim was to offer time and space for people of differing abilities to create on equal footing, to try to break with assumptions about what we all think music is and can be. What better way to achieve this than by beginning with listening and specifically placing focus on a living and culturally significant place – the NLI.
“My goal in leading this process was to ensure that active listening was at the core of every step of our composition. By carefully considering the artistry and training of each musician, I wanted to develop a challenging environment for all involved.
“I believe that together we created a new, original, and qualitative professional composition that was unique to this group of extraordinary people.”
Performed by Adrian Conaghan, Ailis Colgan, Rory Donnelly, Jack Doyle (RIAM), Aoife Goodison-Lawlor (RIAM), Rohan Harron (RIAM), Alannah Kelly, Max Matthews (RIAM), David Banfield, and Aoife O'Donovan (RIAM).
